David's Story

‘H Mason & Sons. Coal Merchants. Diglis, Worcester’, proclaims the sign on the horse-drawn cart. But H is not for Harry or Henry, but for Hannah, who also owned the building in the background - The Anchor Inn; still a popular local pub. In 1906, when the photograph was taken, Hannah Mason, coal merchant and licensee, was a successful businesswomen and entrepreneur in a man’s world.

More than a hundred years later, when Hannah’s great-grandson Michael moved into a new apartment just around the corner following the regeneration of the Diglis Basin, his brother David enquired about Restoring Glory’s photo restoration services. “It will be a housewarming gift”.

Viewed straight on, the picture was a ‘grey haze’ which seemed beyond repair, the best-preserved part lying beneath the Sellotaped tear down the middle. But tilted at a steep angle and away from the light, the photograph revealed its detail - which would be captured by photographing the picture at that angle. The resulting (distorted) image was then skewed back into shape on the computer; and following painstaking restoration work, printed at 60 cm by 40 cm - twice its original size.

Sadly, Michael passed away in 2016. In his memory, David and his family “held a gathering in the ‘Boathouse’ dining room at the rear of The Anchor Inn, the exact position where the old photograph was taken. We then presented the picture to The Anchor and it is on display in the restaurant, with a plaque telling the event!”

If you have a treasured old photograph, contact Restoring Glory today to start out on your own amazing journey.